A system made when Bill Gates realised he didn't have enough money.
Since programmers didn't like the XBox when is was announced, Microsoft bought a bunch of companies to make exclusive games, such as Bungie and Rareware.

Also, the system in competition with the Playstation 2 for people who only buy EA sports games.

The first attempt by Microsoft to enter the console gaming market, the XBOX is, beneath its sleek, black (and OMG HUGE!!!1 LOL) exterior, was simply a mid-range (for the time) gaming PC in a console's clothing.

The result - a hot, noisy and (as noted above) OMG HUGE!!!1 LOL - console, but one with remarkable gaming power which secured a solid second place next to Sony's somewhat overhyped PlayStation 2. While the PS2 took the lion's share of the market in the fourth-generation console wars it was far from the walk over predicted in the popular press and Microsoft easily displaced Nintendo who were, a priori, predicted to take a comfortable if disappointing second place position.

The XBOX 360 has broken the trend somewhat, ditching the PC architecture and Windows-derived operating system in favour of something much more console-like (and sadly less OMG HUGE LOL!!!1) and, ariving a year earlier to market than the currently missing-in-action PlayStation 3 may yet provide Microsoft with the dominant position in console gaming. But at this stage the smart money is on a three way tie in the fifth generation console gaming market.